歐洲央行將停止發行500歐元面值紙幣

The European Central Bank has decided to stop producing E500 notes, in a move it depicts as a crackdown on crime but which critics in German-speaking countries say is part of an onslaught on cash and savings.

歐洲央行(ECB)決定停止發行500歐元面值的紙幣，並稱此舉是爲了打擊犯罪。但德語國家的批評者表示，這是對現金和儲蓄的打壓。

Top eurozone officials argue that the E500 bill, the euro’s highest denomination note, is the banknote of choice for the darkest parts of the black economy, because it allows drug dealers and terrorists to carry large amounts of cash.

歐元區高官辯稱，作爲面值最高的歐元紙幣，500歐元紙幣是黑色經濟的最黑暗部分喜歡使用的紙幣，因爲它便於毒販和恐怖分子攜帶鉅額現金。

Although the bill accounts for just 2.3 per cent of banknotes in the single currency area, it represents almost 30 per cent of their value.

儘管500歐元紙幣僅佔歐元區單一貨幣區紙幣數量的2.3%，但其金額佔比接近30%。

As well as ending production, the ECB said on Wednesday it had decided to stop issuing the E500 around the end of 2018, “taking into account concerns that this banknote could facilitate illicit activities”. It added that “in view of the international role of the euro and the widespread trust in its banknotes, the E500 will remain legal tender and . . . will always retain its value”.

週三，歐洲央行表示，“考慮到500歐元面值紙幣可能會爲非法行動提供便利引起的擔憂，”該行已決定大約在2018年停發這種紙幣。歐洲央行補充稱，“鑑於歐元的國際角色以及歐元區紙幣獲得的廣泛信任，500歐元紙幣將保持法定貨幣地位……並將一直保有其面值。”

By making it more difficult to keep very large sums in cash, the abolition of the note could push otherwise reluctant people to put their savings in banks, raising fears that negative interest rates could eat into the principal.

歐洲央行提高了持有大量現金的難度，500歐元紙幣的取消可能會推動那些原本不情願的人們把資金存進銀行，引起他們對於本金可能受到負利率侵蝕的擔憂。

To date such rates, which are imposed on commercial banks’ accounts at the ECB itself, have not directly applied to ordinary savers in the eurozone.

負利率是針對商業銀行在歐洲央行的賬戶，並不直接適用於歐元區內的普通儲戶。

The bank is adamant that all of the other denominations of its banknotes, which range from E5 to E200, will continue to be produced.

歐洲央行堅稱，從5歐元至200歐元面值的紙幣，將繼續發行下去。